Galactic Eds
by SilverThorn-2000
Summary: A single mishap throws the culdesac across the galaxy. Now, the kids must find a way home.
1. Chapter 1

Galactic Eds

Chapter 1

Double D was furious. Eddy had- yet again- put his own plans before Double D's.

"Eddy, please! This is _important!_"

The shorter boy snort in contempt. "Please, Double D. This science shmuck can't get you cash."

Double D fumed silently, holding back his speech on how a scientific discovery could, in fact, lead to massive profits. Eddy wouldn't have listened- or cared much- anyways. For Eddy, it was always about the fast buck. Never any long view.

"Now come on, Sockhead! We need to make cash now! Before the Candy Store closes!" Eddy tried to shove Double D out of the garage door.

It was an action that Eddy would later reflect as being the last straw where Edd was concerned.

"Oh, certainly, Eddy! I'll act with no regards as to my own feelings! Maybe I should just turn everything on!" Double D hit every switch on his jury-rigged diagnostic gear. The lights flickered, and Edd blinked as though coming out of a trance.

"Oh, dear."

Eddy was about to ask what happened when there was a high-pitched whine. In the accoustics of a garage, the noise was enough to cause both boys to cringe and flee.

"Oh, dear, I didn't caculate for this..." Double D muttered as the whine reached ultrasonic levels. Ed, who'd been standing outside the garage, blinked.

"I feel tickly, guys," Ed commented. Eddy looked around.

"Sockhead, what's goin' on? What did you do?"

Double D grimaced as the trio of fillings in his back teeth began to ache. "Some sort of molecular vibration, I thin-" The hat wearing boy's voice faltered, and his finger came up. Eddy frowned as Edd's voice returned with a force of gibberish.

"What?" Eddy whirled, noticing the sudden bright blue, semi-distorted wall approaching him fast. The rest of the cul-de-sac behind it had vanished, apparently consumed by whatever the wall was.

Ed didn't notice, or care.

Eddy began to scream as the wall washed over him.

The rest of the cul-de-sac and lane had instants to notice as the wall plowed through them, and then collapsed.

---

_Deep, deep space._

_The kind of quiet that reigns throughout most of the galaxy was disturbed as the wall opened, and the cul-de-sac was spit out. whatever wasn't nailed down, or securely locked to something floated away._

_This would have ended the story, if not for a certain fact and two small miracles._

_The certain fact consists of hard vaccuum- dispite what TV and movies have shown- not being instantly fatal._

_The first of the two miracles was that the kids had passed out at the sight of the wall._

_The second was that help was, conviently enough, in the general area._

_"Ah, control? There's something out here you won't believe."_

---

Double D woke up with a gasp. Shapes blurred together, but he could hear people talking clearly enough.

"Aleks, take it easy! You'll give him nitrogen poisoning!" A girl's voice, young. Sounded around his age.

"Just give me the oxygen mask, Lilandra." Male. Somewhat older, rather haughty. It reminded him of Kevin.

He felt soft plastic over his nose and mouth, and he breathed deeply. Things began coming into focus.

His guess had been right. One girl, one boy.

The girl was pretty enough. A little taller than him, maybe, with pink hair. He vaugely wondered what her natural hair color was.

"He's awake." Edd's eyes flicked to the other speaker. He was a boy, about Rolf's age, not much older. His face was hawkish, well lined. Deep green eyes probed his.

"Who...?" Double D said, trying to sit up as the duo forced him back down.

"Rest. You and your friends are suffering from light vaccuum exposure."

The girl knelt down next to him. "Go help the others, Aleks. I can handle him."

The older boy snorted briefly and nodded. "Very well."

"Who...are you?" Double D managed. His throat was dry, which- assuming her claim had been true- made sense.

"Lilandra. Lilandra Sjet." She smiled, a small, somewhat shy smile. Edd found his lips twisting into a matching smile.

"So, where are...?" He let the question trail off.

"Third Creche. It's...a long story, and I probably couldn't explain it to you. Karan's reasoning didn't make sense to me." Lilandra sighed, and looked him over.

"I...I think it's one of those things that's better off shown to you." Edd's brow furrowed at that comment, when the boy called over. "Looks like these two are okay."

Double D glanced over. Ed had sat up, apparently with no ill effect. 'Although,' he mused silently, 'it's hard to tell with Ed what an "ill effect" would be.'

Eddy pulled himself to his feet and glanced around. "Sockhead, what did you get us into?"

Double D puffed up indignantly. "I'm as clueless as you, Eddy," he grated out, climbing tenderly to his feet, "but I'm sure we'll find out."

Lilandra frowned, and the boy chuckled. "Lily, I'm gonna go check on the other groups."

"All right, Aleks." Lilandra looked at them. "Come on, you three. There's something you need to see."

---

It was breathtaking. Edd was at a loss for words, and he blinked in nothing short of amazment.

Eddy broked the silence in less than ten seconds. "Space."

A pause, then: "Space?"

Lilandra and Double D looked at the shorter boy as he finally finished processing this.

"SPACE! Double D, you...what did you do? How are we gonna get home? WHERE ARE WE?!?"

Lilandra took a deep breath, and looked at her feet. "Well..."

Ed broke in as his mind finally grasped the truth. "Oh, no! Eddy, we're in space! We could be attack by evil Coalition Warp Gates, like in the movie StarLancer! Or, or the mutants of the AI Shodan from the movie System Shock, or The Many from System Shock 2! Or-"

"Shut UP, furhead." Eddy rubbed his temples in aggrivation. Double D managed a chuckle when he caught Eddy's muttered "Nobody here but us space rednecks."

Lilandra looked completely bewildered, but Edd managed a non-chalant shrug. "That's Ed for you."

"Ah...Anyways...what I was going to say is..." Lilandra paused and looked a little helpless. "From what we were able to pick up off the scanners...you guys are a long, long way from home."

"Meaning?" Eddy asked impatiently.

"Meaning the amount of energy from the dissapation of your hyperspace wave form indicated that you'd crossed the spiral arm and the galactic core before dropping out."

Double D blinked. "Beg your pardon? Which arm?"

Lilandra locked eyes with him, mostly to avoid the near-panic painted on Eddy's face. "You're almost clear across the galaxy."

Eddy fainted at that comment, and Edd managed a horrified gasp. Ed smiled broadly. "Cool," the tall boy said.

Edd processed this, forcing himself to calm down and think. Well, he'd always wanted to travel. He just hadn't meant for it to happen in such a way. Or, for that matter, for such a distance.

He was vaugely aware of Lilandra saying something. "Hm? I'm sorry, I was processing what you'd said earlier."

She smiled, a warmer smile this time. "I was saying that was also got a fair fix on the vector you'd jumped in on. I was also wondering how you managed to jump a piece of a planet like that without killing yourselves in the process."

Double D shrugged helplessly, and a familiar voice came from behind him.

"Think I know, Lily."

The kids spun around, and the older boy from earlier stood there, hand out. "Aleks Soban." Double D shook his hand firmly, and looked at him.

"Well, Aleks, I hope you can answer that. I was starting to wonder myself."

Aleks gestured back to the bay they'd come from.

"To put it simply, you somehow managed to turn the entire hunk of land into a single hyperdrive core." Aleks spoke, as the large double doors slid open. Other kids were helping the various cul-de-sac dwellers out. Double D frowned as he watched one group run Jimmy out on a streacher.

"That little one got beat up pretty bad." Aleks looked back at Edd. Edd shook his head and felt the smile he'd been wearing tighten into a grim mask.

"If only you knew." Edd looked at Aleks, who snorted in understanding. Lilandra glared at Aleks, then looked around. "So, Aleks," Edd said after a moment, "Everybody survive?"

"Nearly as far as we can tell. Of course, we're not exactly...trained, but still." Aleks looked a little sheepish. Edd grimaced.

"We're gonna have to fill them in, of course." Eddy spoke up, looking around, and apparently resisting the urge to run as Kevin strode up to him.

"I know you dorks have something to do with this. Start talking." Kevin had one finger aimed at Eddy, and Double D tapped his shoulder.

"Kevin, I'm at fault. Eddy managed to fray my temper, and when I lost it...well, I apparently caused the entire cul-de-sac to...jump to hyperspace, was that it?" Lilandra and Aleks nodded. "At any rate, we've apparently crossed most of the galaxy, and should rightly be dead."

Kevin blinked. "Yeah, right."

Aleks sighed and made to intervene, stopping when Double D held his hand up. "Kevin, you know how I get when I'm required to be dishonest?"

Kevin nodded. That was something pretty much every kid on the cul-de-sac knew. Edd was almost completely incapable of telling a lie. He usually would start by squeaking, then moving rapidly into nervous shudders and sweating. Nazz had- on more than one occasion- expressed concern that eventually Eddy's scams and dishonesty would reach a point where the hat-clad boy would likely die of an apolexic fit.

"Do you see any one of those signs?"

Kevin frowned. "So, if we're not in Peach Creek, where are we?" he demanded.

"I believe it's called Creche Three. Why, I don't know." Double D sighed.

"Because the woman that named it- my almighty cousin Karan- has no sense of humor, and a machine's sense of order and logic." Lilandra piped up angrily, and the rest of the group spared a suprised look at her.

"That's something else that needs explaining. Probably best done in the infrimary..." Aleks said softly, following another group that was attempting to herd Sara.

---

"Everyone here?" Lilandra asked. Kevin and Aleks nodded, and she smiled. "All right. Lights."

The room dimmed, and a hologram shimmered in the air.

"I'll skip the history lesson. Anybody who's interested can read and watch docs another time. Our subject today-" and with this, the image stabilized- "is Current Events on Higaara."

The holo was a shot of a major war zone. It wasn't pleasent, and Jimmy's sudden retching was audible in the otherwise silent room.

"In...oh, about the last standard year, a group of otherwise scattered raiders, known as the Vaygr, were united, and mounted attacks against the Homeworld, and various Higaaran naval outposts."

The holo shimmered again, and a man-large, with a shaven head and dark eyes- appeared.

"This is the unifier of the Vaygr, Makaan. He's-"

"He looks like the fallen Captain William Bradford Diego in System Shock 2!" Ed piped up, followed by a near-deafing snap of "Shut UP, Ed!"

Lilandra chuckled, and looked around. "As I was saying, Makaan is a former member of the fallen Taiidani Empire, from the outer holdings of the Imperium Remnants. His father joined a Vaygr crusade, and he took it over when his old man died."

"Roughly four months ago, it became apparent that Makaan had managed to unify his own crusade, but all the crusades under his command. It also became apparent- to Karan, at least- that his target was the Higaara system."

The image changed again, and the kids looked at it. It was a series of asteroids, hooked together to form a large base or structure of some kind.

"So, in her infinite wisdom, Karan decided that the children should be moved off Higaara for safety's sake. And here we are."

Lilandra sighed, and looked around her. "Any questions?"

The roar that filled the room was deafening.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Double D mused about events as he watched the stars out of Command's transteel dome. Eddy was off gathering support for his attempt at becoming the creche's new 'kith patriarch', and Ed was...off doing whatever it was Ed did in these sorts of situation.

He lowered his eyes to the sensor readout in front of him, and looked it over. Nothing but rocks.

He blinked as Lilandra set her hand on his shoulder. He managed a shy smile and looked at the readout again. "Nothing. Lots and lots of nothing."

Lilandra sat in the chair next to his. "That can change quickly, you know. We're only so well camouflaged. Odds are that the Vaygr'll find us eventually." Double D sighed.

"I hope not. I mean, we're pretty much unarmed, aren't we?" He looked at Lily's golden eyes, and she smiled warmly.

"Yeah...it'd be pretty bad."

The conversation found itself promptly cut off as Aleks Soban stormed through the hatch.

"That little, twisted, son-of-a...do you know what he did?" Aleks turned his glare on Double D, and Edd groaned inwardly. Any time Kevin or Aleks got set off, there was only one person at fault. Always.

Eddy.

"What now?" Edd asked softly, watching Aleks do his best to wear a rut in the deck plating.

"He managed to get himself declared the Kith Patriarch, that's what." Aleks threw up his hands in disgust, before letting them flop to his sides.

Double D giggled softly at that. "I'm surprised. Normally Kevin or Ed manages to poke a hole in his schemes before they reach fruition."

"Kevin tried, believe me. And Ed...Ed's been in the cargo holds since the briefing let out. But Eddy's new fangled position isn't everything that galls me."

Lilandra frowned. "Drop the other shoe, Aleks."

"He's renamed this place."

Lilandra blinked, not sure what to make of that piece of news.

"Run...run that by me again."

"He's renamed it. He's calling it New Peach Creek now."

Edd's hand covered his mouth to hide his widening grin, and he managed to choke an explosive laugh into a fair cough. Lily, on the other hand, looked as though she was about to have a fit of unimaginable proportions.

"I know. I know!" Aleks continued to pace, and finally brought his hands down on the central tactical tank.

"Well, it could be worse," Edd ventured softly. Both the Hiigaran kids favored him with a slightly bewildered glance. "He could've called it 'Eddyville'."

Lilandra's jaw worked for a few instants, before her mind caught up and she closed it with a click. Aleks sighed.

"You're right. Sajuuk knows." Aleks leaned against the back edge of the communications console and favored the other two with a wry grin. "Guess he doesn't realize how much trouble's headed his way when-"

"Double D!" Ed happily burbled as he tore into the room and headlong into the far bulkhead. Aleks shook his head at the tall boy.

"Kind of makes you grateful everything's-"

"DON'T!" Edd cried out causing Lily and Aleks to look at him as though he'd lost his mind. "He'll see it as a challenge, and, well..."

Aleks shrugged. "Okay, big guy. What'd you find?"

"A probe." Ed smiled. "At least, that what it looks like."

Lily blinked. "Well, this was a survey station. May as well take a look."

* * *

It was a small device, no larger at it's center than Eddy, perhaps, with antenna sprouting from it at off angles.

"Sajuuk-cor."

Edd and Lily glanced at Aleks, who wandered around it with wide, wide eyes.

"Do any of you have any clue how old this thing is?" the older boy asked, pulling a black lock of hair back behind his ears.

"Not a clue." Lily muttered, folding her arms over her chest. Edd only raised his eyebrows in curiosity.

"Sumo wrestling mutants must have made it!" Ed shouted happily, and Aleks smirked.

"Try at least a century, maybe older. This model dates back to the Homeworld War, maybe even further, before our exiled ancestors left Kharak..." He looked at Ed in awe. Ed grinned his huge, thoughtless grin back.

"I wonder if it still works." Ed said, promptly falling silent as the other three kids looked at each other and grinned.

* * *

"Sockhead, where have you been? I've been trying to comm you for an hour and a half!" Eddy stormed into Control, hands flailing around almost wildly.

"Just a second, Eddy, then I'll be free to assist you. The preparations for my project took a little longer than expected." Double D glanced over the controls, then at Lilandra next to him. "Launch computations completed."

"Copy. Dispatching probe." Lilandra moved with a fluid grace as Edd watched her out of the corner of his eye, and she managed a shy smile as her eye caught his. As Eddy watched silently, Double D turned a very interesting shade of red, and his short friend was almost certain that the hat-clad boy would pass out.

"Okay, a probe? Have you found a way home?" Eddy asked at long last, breaking the awkward silence. Edd cleared his throat.

"Maybe. We're looking into something one of the harvester crews saw a few weeks back. We won't know for a few hours, though. So what do you need?"

Eddy grinned. "Help setting up the projection TV."

Edd groaned, and Lily looked at him. "Something I should be aware of?"

"Just Eddy trying to fleece everyone-" Double D started, but Eddy raised a hand.

"Hey! I'm not chargin' anything! Just that they looked like they needed a pick-me-up, and we can't be _working_ all the time, can we?" Eddy chuckled, and the other two looked at each other with a glance that showed more than just a little distrust of Eddy's statement.

"And what's on the viewing agenda for tonight?"

Eddy took a deep breath. "I raided your dad's DVD collection, and somehow I felt that the _Battlestar Galactica _mini-series would be appropriate."

Edd felt his stomach turn to ice. "Eddy, you may be courting disaster with this." The shorter boy shrugged at the comment.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained, Sockhead."

Double D hated it when he said that. "I'll go with you, Edd. To make sure nothing untoward happens." Edd looked over at Lilly, who brushed her pink hair behind an ear. He blushed and said nothing, but nodded.

_

* * *

"So say we all."_

Munching microwave popcorn from a shared bowl, Lilandra Sjet silently watched along with forty other creched children as Commander William Adama paced in front of the funeral assembly, who echoed his words back softly.

_"So say we all!"_

The words came back stronger this time, but again the Commander repeated them. And again the crowd repeated them, nearly shouting now. Lilandra stopped eating, and watched almost entranced.

_"Are they the lucky ones? That's what you're thinking, isn't it? We're a long way from home. We've jumped well beyond the Red Line, into uncharted space. Limited supplies, limited fuel. No allies, and now, no hope. Maybe it would have been better for us to have died quickly, back on the colonies with our families. Instead of dying out here slowly...in the emptiness of dark space. Where shall we go? What shall we do?"_

There was a soft, murmured whisper as the figure on the screen turned to face the assembled group in front of him.

_"Life here began out there. Those are the first words of the sacred scrolls. And they were told to us by the Lords of Kobol, many countless centuries ago. And they made it perfectly clear, that we are not alone in this universe."_

There was a sharp intake of breath in the makeshift theater as the assembled kids watched Adama then turn and point at the priestess behind him.

_"There's a 13th colony of human kind, is there not?"_ The Commander demanded, and the priestess hesitantly nodded.

_"Yes," _she said to both Adama and (what felt like) the kids themselves, _"The scrolls tell the 13th tribe left Kobol in the early days. They traveled far and made their home upon a planet called Earth, which circled a distant and unknown star."_

_"It's not unknown!" _Adama roared, and the kids jumped in their seats. Even Lily jumped, spilling the bowl of popcorn all over herself and Double D. Edd groused and began to pick kernels of popcorn off him, but Lily barely noticed.

_"I know where it is! Earth! The most guarded secret we have! The location is only know by senior commanders of the fleet. And we dared not share it with the public, not while there was a Cylon threat upon us! A refuge that the Cylons know nothing about! It won't be an easy journey! It'll be long, and arduous. But I promise you one thing. On the memory of those lying here before you, we _shall_ find it. And Earth will become our new home." _Adama paused. _"So say we all."_

The theater erupted in cheers, and Double D looked up in surprise. "I never expected..." Eddy, who sat on the far side of the projector looked on and nodded.

Lily grinned. "This is _so_ cool."

Double D felt the mobile comm he'd taken in case the probe found something vibrate. He pulled it out and flipped it open. "Yes, Aleks?" He paused, listening, then shut the comm and nudged Lily and Eddy in turn.

"We've got something."

* * *

The trio strode into Command with the surety of a trio of kids who'd just watched a science fiction. "What've we got?" Eddy asked.

"A ship. Derelict." Aleks gestured to the hologram hovering in air over the tactical table. "Can't tell, because it's only a partial reconstruction. Probe caught an asteroid in the main array, and the images aren't real clear, either. This was the best I can do."

Eddy looked around. "Intact?"

"Couldn't tell, fearless leader," Aleks looked down at Eddy's glaring visage, "But it looked at least mostly. Maybe we could find you a way home."

"Maybe, Aleks," Lily broke in, "We ought to go take a look." Aleks opened his mouth to protest, and cut himself off.

"Fine. They've got vacc suits in their quarters, right?" Aleks asked, and Lily nodded again.

Edd gulped, and Eddy frowned as well. "We're going out there? In vacuum suits?" Eddy asked, and Aleks shook his head. "No. We'll take a harvester, but safety requires a vacuum suit."

"Oh, dear." Edd managed.

"Fine. Call down to the deck, and have them prep a harvester. Take off in thirty." Lily said, and Aleks nodded, picking up a headset to make the call. Eddy and Double D retreated.

* * *

Edd struggled into the bodysuit that formed the basis of his supposed 'vacuum suit'. It wasn't that different from his one-size-fits-all pajamas, but the more rubbery feel put him off.

"Edd?"

Double D gasped, going rigid as he pulled the upper half of the suit up to cover his bare torso and shoulders. "L-Lilandra!"

"Problems?" The pink haired girl inquired, and a blushing Double D turned to stare at her.

"Yes! I mean no! I mean-"

"I came at a bad moment, right?" Lilandra shook her head and looked over Double D's suit before reaching out. Edd cringed as she took the upper half of the suit and stuffed him into it.

"Ugh. So embarrassed about it. How did your people ever become a star-faring species?" Lily demanded as she forced Edd's arms into the sleeves and sealed the suit.

"We aren't. We're, ah, we're barely _space-faring_ as it is." Edd admitted as she helped him with the rest of the suit.

"So you're the first people from your world to have traveled by hyperdrive?"

"Inadvertently, yes." Edd admitted, slipping into the outer plating more easily. He may have nearly had a heart attack, but he was grateful for Lilandra's help.

"What's your world called, anyways?" she asked all of a sudden, and Edd froze.

She poked him gently, and he mulled several possible answers, but his conscience would allow him only one. "Earth."

She paused now. "Earth."

"Yes."

"As in _Galactica_'s Earth?"

"That's correct."

"Commander Adama _'our most guarded secret'_ Earth."

"As far as I'm aware."

"As in the thirteenth tribe?"

"...Well, actually, that's never been proven, though there is some evidence to suggest that."

Lilandra stared at him. "This is so _cool_," she breathed, helping Edd into his chest plate, finally bringing his helmet over his head.

"Hope this fits," she said, rolling his hat under and twisting the helmet in the lock. Double D looked at her through the clear plastic. Her suit was a similar soft suit, fitting to her adolescent form well. Edd looked at her, realized he was staring, and blushed and made to look away. Lilandra smiled at him, sealed her own helmet, and leaned in, touching the helmets together.

"Don't be ashamed." The words were poor echoes of her voice, but she made a light kissing motion with her lips, and Double D went as red as his shirt.

"Oh, my..."

* * *

"What kept?" Eddy demanded over the comm. Edd chined his mike on, and sighed.

"Nothing, Eddy. Don't worry about it." Next to him, Lily offered Eddy and Aleks a shrug. Aleks chuckled over the comm, and marched across the catwalk into the harvester module.

Eddy looked at them both, and shrugged. "Fine. Not my concern. And will it ever be?" He asked slyly.

"I'm not prescient, Eddy. I can't tell you what the future holds." Eddy laughed at that, and entered the harvester himself. Lilandra pulled Edd along, grinning at a saluting Ed. (It had to be Ed; nobody else was wearing their helmet _backwards_.)

Aleks sat in the co-pilot seat, next to their volunteer pilot. "Strap in," he said, even as they did so. "I can't find the hard points," Ed commented. Lily reached over, unlatched the big boy's chest plate, turned it around and plopped it back down on the fuzz-headed youth's shoulders.

"Hi!" Ed waved as Lily re-latched the chest assembly. Aleks snorted in laughter and Eddy shook his head behind his own helmet.

"Everything changes, but Big Ed stays the same, don't he?" Eddy asked. Lily shrugged, and Edd chuckled. "Certainly seems like it." Double D admitted wryly.

The pilot turned. "All right. Control, this is harvester Junius-Taloc-Niner-Eight-Seven requesting launch."

"_Affirmative, JT-987. Moving into launch position now."_

With a lurch the harvester moved before the launch bay, in view of the black outside. "Copy launch position. Ready to launch."

"_Copy Wilco, JT-987. Thrust is go on your command. Call it."_

The pilot manipulated the controls with a surprising professionalism for someone no older than Jimmy. "Copy, Control. See you on return, rendezvous in...Six point nine cycles."

"Cycles?" Eddy whispered through helmet-speak to Edd. "Hours, Eddy. The better part of seven."

"Well. Anyone bring any cards?" the short boy asked as the rear thrusters lit up, throwing the crew forward at a surprising clip for something that looked so awkward.

* * *

"Gin."

Eddy shook his head, leaning back. It was cumbersome to play cards in a vacuum suit, even one as light as the Hiigaran-made ones. Nonetheless, Eddy had been surprised as Ed had produced a deck of well-worn playing cards (Produced from where, nobody wanted to know). The short boy had promptly taught them every gambling game he knew, though Gin Rummy by far seemed the most popular with their small group.

Aleks, in particular, was proving to be very much a cutthroat player, winning almost half as much again as any of the others.

"At the rate you're going, I'll be Kith-sa in another ten minutes."

"No, you won't," The pilot remarked, turning around. "We're getting in range. Stow and secure the cards."

There was a brief scramble as they gathered the cards, and Eddy tossed them in a cargo locker. "Secured."

"Stand by maneuvers. Active field, so nobody takes their straps off, scan?"

There was a brief acknowledgment from the other occupants of the harvester.

A harvester, Edd thought later, lacked the gravity fields that compensated for both null-G and acceleration stress. Which is why the kids were being thrown around in their seats as the pilot dodged moving rocks to get near their suspected ship.

"_Sajuuk!_" the pilot cried, and the others looked. Above and in front of them loomed a massive shape that eclipsed the sun, Eddy whistled.

Aleks sucked in a hissing breath. Lilandra looked at him, but said nothing.

"Aleks?" Double D asked softly.

"I've seen it before, in my studies, old ships from after Landing."

Aleks looked back out the port. "I know this ship."

"_Kuun-Lan._"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"What's a Kuun-Lan?"

Eddy's question crackled through the comm, and Aleks turned to him.

"It's a ship, the last of the original _Explorer_ class of advanced mining vessels." Aleks looked back out the front view ports. "She was put into mothballs nearly, oh, forty-five Hiigaran years ago. I would've thought the Beastslayers had it sent to the breaker's, but..."

"Beastslayers?" Eddy asked, now more thoroughly confused than ever.

"Kith Somtaaw. They've been called the Beastslayers ever since they destroyed the parasitic species called the Beast." Aleks leaned over the pilot, looking between the sensor display and the ship floating before their harvester.

"Okay, he lost me." Eddy looked at Double D.

"History, Eddy. If you've not noticed, Aleks has a fondness for the military history of his people." Double D stepped over and looked at the sensor readout.

"So, do we board it?" Lily asked from behind the trio. Eddy turned back to her. "Well, unless you've got a better idea?"

Aleks snorted, and Lily glared. "Fine. Pilot, take us in for dock."

* * *

The hatch slid open with a groan that only time could inflict on a starship. Eddy looked around, and Aleks turned back. "Harvester's moving off. We're gonna be stranded here for a while."

Lily checked the small readout on her suit's wrist. "Air's good, but temp is cold as the Angel Moon. Best keep our helmets on."

Ed looked around almost nervously. Eddy scowled through the transparent faceplate of his helmet. "Problem, burr-head?"

"Event Horizon, Eddy! Do you remember?"

Eddy's face spasmed. He remembered Event Horizon, all right. Any sane person who'd seen that movie would remember it. Eddy, for one, would have nightmares for a week after the mere mention of it.

"Yeah, Ed," The short boy commented, "I remember."

"Event Horizon?" Lily asked.

"Don't ask." Came the simultaneous reply of both Edd and Eddy.

Aleks looked around with a shoulder mounted lamp. "Looks like it's in order. Think we might be able to bring it back online." He turned, and Eddy squinted beyond the lamp that now glared into his eyes. "So, fearless Kiith-sa, what say you?"

"Fine, but if we start getting funky, unexplainable readings, we're calling the harvester, and going home." Eddy looked away, down the dark corridor from the lock. "Ed, Aleks and I will look for the command deck. Sockhead, you and she go to the engineering center and see if you can't turn the air and heat back on."

"All right, Eddy. Lily, you lead the way. Just in case." Lily looked at him, her face screwing up in a bemused look before she tromped off down the corridor, magnetic boots clanging on the floor. Double D hesitated for a moment, then followed.

Aleks watched them go. Ed was already tromping off the other direction. "So, Event Horizon is a horror vid, I take it?"

"Yeah. It's just..." Eddy thought about how to explain it. "Well, it's a really surreal flick. And the way this thing is built, well..."

Aleks looked around him. "I think I get the point. I'll make sure never to watch it." And with that, the duo turned and tromped down the hall after Ed.

* * *

Edd let out a slow whistle as he clomped into the engineering compartment. "I take that means you're impressed with the view."

"Absolutely."

"Why, Edward, I thought I'd never hear you say something like that to me. I'm touched."

Edd seized up. He hadn't meant it in the way Lilandra seemed to want to mean it, and she let slip a giggle. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"It's all right. So, do you know how to start these up?" He looked them over.

"Should be easy. This stuff was pretty much standardized in the years after Landing. Look for the ignition cells." Lilandra strode off to one end of the bay. Double D glanced around him.

The reactor assembly was large, as large as he'd expected. He clambered over to the other side, looking. Several black crates sat on the catwalk on the far side of the bottle.

"Some crates over here. Those what we're looking for?" He felt the vibrations as Lilandra walked over.

"Yeah, looks like. Give me a hand." With a grunt, Edd helped her lift the heavy cell and slide it into the wall mount. "After we get these in-hurgh-what do we do?"

"We start this fusion bottle up, slowly if we can. If the bottle's been compromised, my fair hat-wearing friend," Edd blushed at Lily's choice of words, "We're not going to be able to get the ship online without a replacement."

"And what happens if it's compromised-errgh-and we can't bring it up slowly?" Edd said, grunting as they slid the second cell into it's slot.

"I'd rather not think about that," Lily admitted quietly. Edd shuddered, but forced himself to keep helping.

* * *

"Man, no dust, nothing." Eddy glanced around him. Aleks was silent, and Ed laughed happily. Eddy looked at them, then pressed the pad next to the door. It stayed shut.

"Locked." Eddy said, looking back at Aleks. Aleks nodded.

"Must be the command center." The older boy chined his com. "Lily? Edd? How're things on your end?"

_"Just finished loading the fourth cell. Hold one."_

* * *

"Ready?" Lily asked Edd, who nodded.

"Beginning spin-up of fusion one."

There was a dull hum, and a low whine, and the deck vibrated slightly. Lily looked at the panel in front of her. Edd glanced over the other displays.

"All right, we have fifty percent power on fusion one. Beginning spin up of fusion two." Edd's hands tapped the controls carefully.

There was a slightly louder whine now as the second fusion bottle spun up. Edd smiled.

"One hundred percent power on fusion one. Fusion two at twenty five percent power with no problems detected."

Lily tapped the main feeds. "Standby on fusion three. I've got a slight field flux."

"Got it. Holding for diagnostic. Fusion one and two are at full power. No fluctuations detected." Edd glanced at the rating displays. Lily frowned at her displays.

"Have a flux in the secondary magnetic containment coil on fusion three. We won't be able to bring it over thirty percent."

"Spinning three up to twenty, just to be safe." Edd tapped the control, and there was a third hum added to the background. "All three bottles are online."

"Aleks, Eddy, you get that?"

_"Yeah, we heard. Don't push the power grid."_

_"In as many words, oh fearless leader, yes, that is the idea."_

"Stop sniping at each other." Edd growled, and Lily managed a look of surprised admiration.

_"Yeah, yeah. Ready to see if the power lines hold?"_

"You got it, Eddy." Edd tapped the keys carefully. "Beginning shipwide power up now."

* * *

Deck by deck, frame by frame, the Kuun-Lan came back to life. By the time the lights and automated systems flickered back on near the command center, the air had already begun cycling.

"Phew!" Eddy said, sniffing the air with a grimace, "Man, what died in the vents?"

Aleks wore a similar expression. "Probably need to flush the Oxy-plant and change the scrubbers."

Eddy touched the panel on the door, which now slid obediently by. "Hello, baby!"

"Incredible...the command ship of the Somtaaw Beastslayers..." Aleks said softly. "Double D, is everything in good shape?"

_"Everything but fusion three," _came the reply. _"I can give you roughly two-thirds normal drive power, but no hyperdrive. And if we want to use the foundries in any way-"_

"We'll have to answer full stop. Got it." Aleks looked at Eddy, who was grinning broadly.

"Let's take it back to the Creche."

Aleks slid behind the panel. "Harvester JT-987, you read?"

_"Four by five, sir. Sitrep?"_

"Dock under the hangar module for transport back. This bird has her wings back."

_"Copy that, sir. Docking now."_

Aleks fingers slid over the console. "Navigational interface online. Bringing up sensors."

Ed plopped down in another chair. "Active sensors online, helm!"

Eddy laughed softly. "Double D? How're the engines?"

_"Stand by. Transferring control now."_

"Aleks?" Eddy looked at the hawk-faced youth, who grinned almost maniacally.

"Engines answering the helm, Fearless Leader."

Eddy stood behind the main holotank. "Lay in a course to the creche, and for the love of the gods, don't hit anything!"

"Aye aye, sir. Course laid in. Helm answer one-eighth power, heading three-four-eight by zero-three-six."

With a dull roar, the ship's main engines sprang to life, moving the vessel slowly out of the field. Kuun-Lan was alive once more.

_

* * *

"So." William Adama said, looking at Eddy squarely, "You want to get home."_

_Eddy blinked. As far as he could tell, this was a dream. A vivid one, perhaps, but a dream none the less._

_"That's right."_

_"What about the people under your command? What are you going to do with them?" Adama poured himself a drink and took a gulp before turning back to the young man seated on the opposite end of the table._

_"I hadn't thought about that."_

_"Just gonna run out on them?"_

_Eddy glared. "Perish the thought," he muttered bitterly. Adama managed a small, quiet laugh._

_"So you'd just leave them there to die when their enemies come? Like Cain did?"_

_"Wasn't sure what I'd do with them."_

_"You have room, right? Why not take them along?" Adama looked at him curiously, and Eddy felt himself flush. He opened his mouth to respond-_

And bolted upright in the quarters he'd claimed for himself, sucking in a deep breath, and looked at the com beeping on the floor next to the bed.

"Eddy."

_"Wake-up call, fearless leader. We're there."_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"You...you want to _what?"_ Double D asked incredulously after Eddy explained the dream to him.

"Evacuate all the creches and take them to Earth," Eddy responded sharply. Edd cringed. The suggestion was absolutely workable in Eddy's mind. Edd, on the other hand, could see the reasons not to carry through with it piling up, one after the other.

"You realize, of course, the Kuun-Laan simply isn't big enough for all three creches, Eddy? It's capable of handling up to three thousand. We might be able to squeeze in the extra five hundred we have here, but not the combined seven thousand of the other two."

Eddy glared. "So? Make it work, sockhead. If all else fails, build other ships, right?"

Double D held back a groan. "From scratch? Eddy, you know full well where my last endevor in that arena ended."

Eddy paused, remembering a day some time prior when they'd believed themselves to be stranded on a "Robot Planet." Double D's escape rocket had been successful at first. Then had come the outer hull peeling away from the frame. Eddy shook the thought from his head. "Aleks said this is a command ship, right? Wouldn't they have the plans on board for the ships they used against the Beast?"

It was now Double D's turn to stop and think. "You...may have a point."

"I always do. Look, I've got some fair ideas as to how to handle our creche..."

* * *

"No."

Double D's voice was firm and resolute. Aleks growled, unwilling to take such a response.

"If this is going to succeed, we'll need fighters. Even if you don't have specs for the Vipers, you can pull something from the computers, right?" Aleks demanded, his head following Double D's movement across the room.

"IT CAN WAIT!" Double D yelled, then took a deep breath. "Aleks, you're right. Heaven knows, if nothing else, you're right. But I have too much to do right now as it is! Defenses can wait until we're closer to our departure!"

"The Vaygr could show up any time, and you want to wait?" Aleks returned angrily. "It's only our lives on the line, after all!"

"I'm aware of that. But I've got about three and a half thousand kids to house and feed. That means I need to make sure we've enough rooms and a working hydroponics section." Double D waved the datapad in his hand. "Not to mention that I still need to fix Fusion Three so we can actually use the hyperdrive! Oh, and speaking of the hyperdrive, I need to write Navicomp software, too!"

Aleks took a step back as Edd strode twoards him. "Geeze, relax, would you?"

"Relax? Between Eddy's brilliant scheme to haul EVERY LAST PERSON out of here, and the somewhat decrepit state of the Kuun-Lan, I can't relax!" Edd said, waving his arms around.

Lilandra chose that moment to enter. "Am I interrupting something?" She asked, hands on her hips, head cocked at an angle. Both of the boys went quiet. Finally, Aleks headed for the door.

"Talk to him, would you?" Aleks asked Lilandra as he passed. "He seriously needs to relax."

Lily's face flushed, but she nodded, watching the door close behind Aleks. "He giving you trouble about the defenses again?"

"Yes." Double D sighed. "As if I don't have enough to do already."

"So you're just going to drive yourself into the ground over this?" Lily asked, taking Double D by the shoulders, and guiding him to the couch in the room the hat-clad boy had claimed.

"I guess. I mean, you're probably busy as heck yourself, trying to organize the kids to get everything packed that we can-"

"I left that to Nazz. So I could help you." Lily sat back.

"Sometimes I think that there's only ever been one good thing about that accidental jump." Double D admitted.

"Only one?" Lily looked at him. Double D looked back at her and nodded. "And what," Lilandra asked, "Would that be?"

Edd just stared at her, and Lily felt her face flush, noticed Double D's doing the same.

They sat there, quiet, for a long moment.

"It's going to be cramped," Edd admitted. "Kuun-Lan wasn't meant to handle the number of kids Eddy's wanting to cram aboard her."

"So we have to share rooms, then." Lilandra sighed. "At least, until we start getting other capital ships produced."

"Looks that way." Double D agreed.

"Um...Edd, do you want to..." Lily looked at him. Edd's face flushed again.

"I...I'd like that, Lilandra. I really would."

* * *

"Oh! Oh! I can lead the marines! I can be like Colonel McQueen!" Ed babbled happily. Eddy did his best to ignore the large boy, which promptly failed as Ed slammed into the closed hatch.

"Fine, Ed. Go pick some kids and play Schlock Mercenary, then." Eddy grumbled. Ed opened the hatch, nearly bowling over Kevin on his way through. Eddy paid Kevin no mind until Kevin stormed around the bridge's central console.

"Listen, Dork, why am I being put in charge of the mining?" Kevin asked. Eddy sighed, doing his best not to follow Double D's lead and start screaming. "Because," The smaller boy answered, "That's the only flight job open right now."

Kevin wasn't buying. "I want to fly a fighter."

Eddy's head snapped up. "Workers are the only things we have down in the hangar that happen to be spaceworthy, shovel-chin. Live with it. Double D's outright refused to start working on the fighters until he's squared away the Kuun-Lan."

Kevin growled, but lowered his head. "How long?"

Eddy shrugged indifferently. "I don't know. However long it takes Lilandra to pull him out of his breakdown and get him set. Assuming all the materials are available-" Eddy's eyes met Kevin's at those words- "It shouldn't be more than a few days."

"Do I get my pick of wingmates? Or did you choose those for me as well?"

"Full of questions today, eh, Kevin?" Eddy asked, crossing over to the master systems display and looking over what was still powered up. "You can choose, but I'd appreciate it if you took Aleks with you at the very least. It'd get him out of my hair and sockhead's beanie."

Kevin shrugged, and exited the bridge. Eddy looked over the crew list, and reached for the com phone. He wasn't looking forward to telling Jimmy that "Interior Decorator" wasn't something that would be immediately useful.

* * *

Rolf glanced up from the bullet shaped craft as Kevin and Aleks entered the hangar, followed by a small group of their peers. "Ah, Kevin. The son of a shepard is prepared to try his hand at mining space rocks."

"Yeah. Thanks for coming along, man. Aleks is being a little too sulky to be good company." Kevin slid his helmet on and latched it. Rolf carefully did the same.

"Rolf is not quite comfortable with this strange get-up, Kevin." Rolf commented, climbing into the small mining vessel.

"Me either," Kevin retorted as he carefully brought the craft online and moved into launch position.

* * *

Double D watched the small group of mixed craft exit the Kuun-Lan's hangars. It had been the better part of two weeks since the mining operations had begun, but near the end of the first week they'd managed to get the primary auto-repair drones online. Between those mekteks (as Ed had dubbed them, drawing on an old science-fiction artbook the tall boy owned) and Lily's help, they'd managed to get most of the vital systems up and running in short order.

Not everything had gone their way, though. In-depth analysis had revealed that the Kuun-Lan's third fusion bottle had a crack in it's interior containment. The result had been that they'd had to disconnect the massive device, cut open the bottom of the engineering compartment, and bring in a whole new bottle that had been fabricated aboard the creche. While the new bottle was working perfectly, there was still the problem of having to rewire most of the major control lines and wiring that had been severed in the replacement process.

Edd sighed at the thought- a group of volunteers, including Jonny 2x4, was still laying fiber-optic cables in the aft part of the ship. That, of course, paled in comparison to the most daunting task that faced him and Lilandra: Writing new hyperspace navigation software.

The original program had been mostly corrupted. They'd salvaged what they could, programming what they could pick up from the texts available in the Kuun-Lan's databases, as well as the Creche's library. It was slow going, but they were making progress.

"So, Sockhead," Eddy's jovial voice greeted the slender youth from behind, "When are we going to be able to leave?"

Edd sighed. "Soon enough. Writing software for navigating through hyperspace is tricky, Eddy. You remember what Han Solo said about this sort of thing?"

Eddy didn't bother to reply. That statement had been on the mind of the Terran children since the last movie night had been held. Though the process was different between reality and the movie, the basics held true: Hyperspace travel required accurate calculations if one was to avoid flying into something unpleasant.

"At any rate, the last set of simulated jumps looked good. Our red line limit will be pretty small until Lily and I have finished working out the last few bugs." Edd finished his summary. Eddy blinked, realizing he'd let himself tune his engineer out. Not a wise thing for a commander to do.

"How small?"

"One hundred fifty to three hundred light years. Once the program is working, though, we should be able to get between eight to nine hundred light years." Edd replied. "And I've gotten the hydroponics up and running. Jimmy's getting the last of the crew quarters settled, so we should be able to start moving kids over before the day's end."

"Hm." Eddy looked out at the small flickers of the mining operations in the distance. "What about the cul-de-sac?"

"We'll have to leave it behind. We can strip everything out of the houses, but space is kind of limited." Double D looked out at the stars beyond the asteroid field the creche was settled in. "I'm leaving my bed behind though."

"Twin too small?" Eddy asked, a slight grin crossing his face.

"Not that. Just not nearly as comfortable as the one that Jimmy and Lily managed to rig up." Edd smirked at the thought of the converted cryogenic pod that now held a rather comfortable feather matress that had been donated by Rolf. "I will, however, ask that you refrain from making jokes about my relationships, thank you."

"You're too touchy, Double D. How long until we weigh anchor and get outta here?" Eddy asked. Double D mulled it over for a few moments.

"No more than another couple of days. Jonny and Sarah's shift should finish splicing in the new fiber-optic lines, and Lily and I can finish putting in the floor panels this evening. After that, it's just a matter of getting everyone boarded and settled into their rooms." Edd looked at his short friend.

Eddy chuckled. "Maybe then I'll stop having dream conversations with Admiral Adama."

Edd shrugged. "If you'll excuse me, Eddy, I've got things to attend to."

* * *

Unnoticed, several million miles from the Kuun-Lan's location, a small device dropped from hyperspace.

Slowly, the probe recorded what it saw and shunted it's transmissions through hyperspace.

_

* * *

_

Near Tanith, Vaygr Command Ship

Weigraf:

"Lord Agris, I have a task for you."

The baritone voice was projected over the speakers to Agris, master of the Grendel Crusade of the Vaygr.

"My lord?" Agris inquired, blinking in suprise. Why would Makan be pulling him from the assault on Tanith?

"We've found a weakness we may be able to exploit. The creches the Hiigarans used to shelter their children."

Agris stiffened. The children of the Hiigaran people was a powerful weakness indeed. "What are your orders, eminence?"

Makan's soft chuckle seemed to sap the heat from the room. "Take your crusade. Capture the children. Destroy the creches, if you must, but take the children alive."

"By your command, Lord Makan." Agris replied, as tradition required of him.

"Sir," the astrogator called, "We're receiving coordinates from the _Trinity._"

"Once the upload has finished, proceed to rally our crusade and make the jump to the coordinates. Lord Makan has assigned us a special task."

* * *

"Everyone's loaded, Eddy." Nazz said from the rear of the bridge. Eddy let out a breath he'd been unaware of holding, feeling a weight lift from his shoulders.

"All right." Eddy lifted the caller. "Forward lock, disengage lock and umbilical."

"_Forward lock, aye aye!"_ Jonny's perpetually cheerful voice came back. There was a thump as the ship's forward connections retracted from the creche.

"Rear lock, disengage lock and umbilical."

"_Aye. Disengaging rear airlock and power umbilical."_ Kevin's voice was a little more annoyed, but the same thump came through. Eddy sighed, triggering the caller again.

"Bridge to engineering. We are loose from the station. Repeat, we have cut loose from the station."

"_Engineering, sir."_ Double D, this time. _"Stand by. Switching from batteries to main generators...now."_

The effect wasn't immidiate, but it was visible. The bridge hummed to full colored life. Status displays lit up to full brightness, the lights flickered on full from the dull standby lights, and the hum of the ship-board power plants and air cycling system was a thing of beauty to the somewhat overworked kids.

"Confirm main power, engineering. Time to hyperdrive charge?"

"_Five minutes, fifty-two seconds mark."_

Eddy looked at Sarah, who'd quietly taken the helm. "All right, pip-squeak. Take us out of the asteroid field."

Sarah growled, but carefully started moving the large vessel out of the field of rocks. Eddy grinned. Things had gone off without-

"Got something, fearless leader." Aleks looked up from the tactical display.

Eddy groaned. "Just my luck. What is it?"

"Hang on. Identify- oh, Sajuuk be merciful. Vaygr armada, heading three-two-one, three and a half klicks ascension!" Aleks whirled around.

Eddy hit the caller again. "Sockhead, please tell me you got the weapons online."

A pause, then _"I beg your pardon?"_

"Vaygr ships headed our way. Are the guns working?"

"_The anti-fighter guns, yes. I'm shunting some of the power for the sublight drives over to the main gun now. Three minutes to charge."_

"Any way to shorten that?"

"_Not without cutting the hyperdrive or life support out of the loop."_

Aleks growled. "One minute twenty to range, skipper. Call it."

Eddy turned to the forward viewport. "General quarters."

Aleks whirled back to his station. The lights cut out, replaced by red emergency lights moments later. Claxons wailed throughout the large ship. Aleks donned a headset, and was speaking over the ship-wide intercom.

"_-not a drill! I repeat, battle stations! We are now at general quarters! All hands, report to battle stations!"_

Eddy strode to the central plot. Time to see how much of Adama's tactical genius had rubbed off on him. "Sarah, turn the ship so we're headed for them."

"Are you nuts?" the small redhead demanded.

"No, it makes sense. It's dangerous, but it also gives them a small profile to hit."

"Nazz, man flight operations!" Another show the kids had watched sprang into Eddy's mind. "I want the first, fourth, and third squads in my sky and _raining fire_!"

* * *

"_Scramble alert! Squads one, three, and four man your planes! Squads two and five to stand by!"_

Kevin jogged down the corridor and into the hangar. The techs were stepping away from his plane, and he nodded to them, pulling down his helmet and latching it. "One actual, ready."

"_Affirmative, Kevin."_ A pause, in which Kevin could hear Eddy's voice filter over the line. _"And Eddy says to come back in one piece."_

That surprised him. "I copy." He looked over his Acolyte's controls, and grinned. "Show time."

* * *

"Squads one and three are away. Squad four is launching now." Nazz looked back at Eddy, who nodded.

"Enemy command ship has launched fighters. I count three squads in-bound, straight intercept trajectory." Aleks looked up. "Two squads of interceptors and a squad of bombers."

"First squad should take the bombers. The Three and Four can hold the interceptors."

"Yessir." Nazz turned back to flight ops.

* * *

"Copy that, Kuun-Lan. First squad, listen up! We're going to get us some bombers!" Kevin throttled up, heading right for the bombers, his squad trailing in delta formation behind him.

The third and fourth swept into their designated targets, and the First hit the bombers instants later.

"Going in!" Kevin shouted, pulling the trigger. One Vaygr bomber disintegrated under the stream of magnetically accelerated slugs.

"Luis, check your six!" Kevin glanced up in time to seen an enemy interceptor splash one of his Acolytes. He felt his stomach churn, realizing for the first time that it wasn't a movie, that there was an actual cost to doing all this.

"Kevin, you have one on your six!" Kevin shook himself back to reality and sent himself into a roll, barely evading the assault craft's flechette cannons.

* * *

"Time to main gun charge?" Eddy inquired.

"Fifteen seconds." Aleks responded cooly.

The fact that both boys were so calm scared Nazz. She'd known Eddy to keep a formidable poker face when the need arose. This was different. There was something almost unnatural about Eddy's calm.

"Enemy battlecruisers are coming up from the enemy armada and assuming line formation. We'll be entering the range of their main guns momentarily."

The console in front of Aleks beeped. "Siege cannon charged, sir. Ready to fire on your order."

Eddy opened his mouth, but Aleks cut him off.

"Enemy vessels are shifting formation. Four battlecruisers confirmed. They're firing!"

"Brace for impact!" Eddy called.

* * *

A burst of static flared as the massive energy bolt roared by, immolating one of the Third. Kevin shouted a single word. "No!"

"Enemy capital ships are firing on the Kuun-Lan!" Another one of his pilots shouted.

"All squads, this is the CAG. Withdraw to the Kuun-Lan's defense perimeter. My long-range is showing more interceptors coming up from that command ship."

Kevin tuned out the acknowledgements, praying that the others were okay.

* * *

Two of the energy bolts missed. One slammed into the hull after a near miss, and the fourth and final bolt tore a gouge in the port-side armor of the massive Kuun-Lan. Aleks swore, looking at his displays. "Direct hit, lower port aft! Damage to the engine array, but it looks minimal." He turned back to Eddy, blinking tears from his eyes. "Double D reports two fatalities. Crewmen Nabal and Heidern sealed themselves on the far side of a pressure hatch to keep fires from reaching the deuterium reserves."

Nazz paled. They hadn't been out of the station more than twenty minutes, and already people were dying.

"How long before the hyperdrive is a go?"

"Forty-five seconds." Aleks replied. Eddy glared at the plot in front of him.

"Recall the fighters."

"They're on their way. Kevin reports more interceptors launching from the command ship." Nazz piped up. Eddy closed his eyes and offered a quiet prayer to whatever gods were watching over them.

"Tell shovel-chin to land his people. Aleks," Eddy looked at his tactical officer, a glimmer of maddened rage in his eyes, "Target the lead battleship and fire as she bears."

"Aye, sir."

* * *

Kevin saw it, the cannon on the Kuun-Lan's side charging. "Squad three, squad four, you take lead. One is in, One Actual has the last slot."

He carefully spun the acolyte around as the cannon fired an energy bolt of its own, watched it careen towards the enemy capital ships.

The bolt slammed into the lead Vaygr battleship, blowing throw the fore armor with little resistance. If that had been the only effect, the battleship might have kept fighting.

The bolt exploded, ripping everything but the aft-most portions of the capital ship apart. The concussion forced the two ships on either side out of formation. Before the ship to it's immediate right could regain control, the energy surge caught it, effectively knocking it around a full hundred and eighty, away from the line of fire.

The ship on the left faired worse. It had caught much of the debris from the concussion. The energy wave lashed it, breaking it like a martial artist breaks boards. The remnants collided with the final battle cruiser, which began its own hasty withdrawl.

* * *

Agris was livid. "What happened?" He demanded of his staff.

"Unsure. Enemy vessel used an unidentified weapon on us."

The Vaygr growled, looking at his own master plot before his chair. "Bring up the destroyers."

* * *

"Ooooh-rah! Two battlecruisers down! Two left!" Aleks checked the readouts. "Destroyers coming up!"

"Start putting in the jump plot for Second Creche!" Eddy snapped at him. "Nazz, what about my fighters?"

"There were some casulties. Kevin's okay, if you excuse him throwing up in the head. But they're aboard."

Eddy sighed, looking at the clock above him, ticking off the last few seconds.

"Plot's in!" Aleks shouted.

Eddy watched the clock finish counting down. It reached zero. "Jump."

A shimmering wall of blue erupted from space time, engulfing the Kuun-Lan. Energy bolts slammed into the belt and hidden station behind where it had been instants earlier.

Agris' troops arrived shortly thereafter, finding it deserted.

* * *

Double D collapsed in bed. Two of the engineering staff were dead, and he'd been monitoring the hyperdrive during the initial jump. It was working perfectly, and the software so far seemed to be working spot on.

He felt his mattress shift slightly, and rolled over. His eyes met Lilandra's. The Sjet girl's golden eyes were clouded with tears. "Edd, I'm sorry, but...I just...hold me. Please, just hold me."

Edd reached out, tenatively at first, then gently held the sobbing Lilandra Sjet in his arms.

* * *

"Sixteen casulties." Eddy threw down the report, making Aleks and Kevin jump. "We're not five minutes uncoupled, and sixteen of us are dead!"

Aleks nodded sadly, and Kevin shifted his gaze. It was a hard thing to admit, and Eddy didn't want to admit they'd all be second guessing themselves. He opened his mouth, then shut it again, not wanting to say anything.

The hatch slid open, and Rolf stepped in, holding four glasses and a bottle. "Rolf knows that the laws of your country forbid this, Ed-boy, but the Great Nano always said that this was traditional when one's comrades were lost."

Eddy's brow wrinkled as Rolf set the glasses down, then blinked as the tall, lanky son of a shepard unscrewed the bottle's lid. A sharp, somewhat spicy scent filled the air. Eddy couldn't identify it, but caught Kevin's sudden goggle-eyed expression from the corner of one eye.

"Rolf, is that what I think it is?" Kevin asked, his eyes never leaving the glasses as Rolf filled them.

"If you're thinking it's rum, you would be right." Rolf handed each of them a glass. "Nano served on a destroyer after he escaped the old country during the Great War. He said it was traditional for the officers to toast the departed."

"No use breaking tradition, I suppose," Eddy murmured, picking up the glass and sniffing at it cautiously. Kevin frowned at the drink in front of him. Aleks looked curious.

"So, I take it this is a type of alcohol?" the Hiigaran asked after a moment and Kevin nodded in response.

Aleks looked at it for a moment, then raised his glass. "To those who left us this day. With their deaths, they have given us all life. With their ending, our beginning. They are the first, but they will not be the last. So long as the Kiith of Peach Creek endures, as the family endures, the fallen shall be remembered. Sajuuk raise them up, and take from them their pains and burdens."

The other three boys murmured a hushed "Amen," then as one the quartet drained their glasses. Eddy coughed, setting his glass down. "Woo. Strong stuff. Clears the sinuses." Kevin and Aleks set their glasses down, both coughing from the burning sensation of the rum going down their throats. Only Rolf seemed unaffected. Eddy guessed it came from the youth's days in the Old Country (Which, as far as Double D could figure, was southern Germany, by way of Malaysia for Rolf's mother).

"Thanks, streatch." Eddy allowed himself to lean back.

"Should I prepare a memorial service?"

"And a longer memorial so we don't forget." Eddy said, waving his hand in dismissal. Rolf quietly collected his bottle and glasses and left the room.


End file.
